Lenovo’s new Thinkpad X131e Chromebook can take licking, keep ticking

But the rugged new Chromebook's price reverses the trend toward cheaper hardware.

The last few months have given us a steady trickle of new hardware running Google's lightweight Chrome OS: Samsung's ARM Chromebook and Acer's C7 Chromebook delivered Chrome OS for $249 and $199, respectively. Those releases finally gave us Chromebooks with prices that were roughly in line with their capabilities. Today, Lenovo is getting in on the fun with its own Chromebook announcement, but while the Thinkpad X131e Chromebook promises "a rugged design for the classroom environment," you'll pay $429 per laptop to get that extra durability.

Like the Acer C7 Chromebook, the X131e Chromebook is a Chrome OS-equipped version of an existing Windows laptop, also (somewhat confusingly) called the X131e. Google's announcement doesn't include hard specifications aside from mentioning that the laptop uses an Intel processor and has 6.5 hours of battery life. But the $619 Windows version of the X131e includes a 1.4GHz Intel Core i3-2367M, 4GB of RAM, an 11.6-inch 1366x768 screen, a 320GB 7200RPM hard drive, dual-band Wi-Fi, and a mobile broadband option—we assume that Lenovo will go with more or less the same specs for the Chromebook version. Its ruggedness means it weighs quite a bit more than the other 11- and 12-inch Chromebooks Google is selling: it's a hefty 3.92 pounds, compared to three pounds for the C7 and 2.4 pounds for Samsung's ARM Chromebook.

There's no denying that building a $249 or $199 laptop is going to result in some compromises when it comes to build quality, so it's nice that schools (especially schools with younger and perhaps less conscientious students) will have the option to buy something a little more sturdy. There's also no denying that $429 is a big jump up in price, especially for the price-conscious education market. Many who are in the market for a fleet of Chromebooks may simply opt to get a pair of C7s instead of a single X131e.

The X131e Chromebook will be available to educational institutions and businesses starting February 26. As of this writing, Google has no plans to sell this device directly from its Chromebook site or through consumer retail channels, though it's possible that Lenovo will sell it to end users through its own site.

But the $619 Windows version of the X131e includes a 1.4GHz Intel Core i3-2367M, 4GB of RAM, an 11.6-inch 1366x768 screen, a 320GB 7200RPM hard drive, dual-band Wi-Fi, and a mobile broadband option—we assume that Lenovo will go with more or less the same specs for the [$429] Chromebook version.

That's almost a $200 savings. Obviously a Windows license accounts for some of the difference, but there must be hardware cuts as well. Otherwise, buy one of these plus a copy of Windows and you'll come out ahead.

But the $619 Windows version of the X131e includes a 1.4GHz Intel Core i3-2367M, 4GB of RAM, an 11.6-inch 1366x768 screen, a 320GB 7200RPM hard drive, dual-band Wi-Fi, and a mobile broadband option—we assume that Lenovo will go with more or less the same specs for the [$429] Chromebook version.

That's almost a $200 savings. Obviously a Windows license accounts for some of the difference, but there must be hardware cuts as well. Otherwise, buy one of these plus a copy of Windows and you'll come out ahead.

OEM windows licensing is similar to refurb windows licensing - it costs more to not get damn stickers on your computer (intel, windows, lenovo 3x3, etc...) then it costs OEMs to license windows. It certainly does not cost them what they charge you!

If their pervious X100 series models are anything close to this. Then this laptop only carries the "X" in its name for makreting reasons. In on way in hell is this laptop even close to the build quality of a real X.

I have a few X120's And the damn keyboards keep dying. I was even offered once that they'll send me a keyboard and I could field replace it. I said sure. But then the tech support tells me. If they send me the part. My warranty will now be void..... HELL NO. I sent the damn thing back on their dime.

But the $619 Windows version of the X131e includes a 1.4GHz Intel Core i3-2367M, 4GB of RAM, an 11.6-inch 1366x768 screen, a 320GB 7200RPM hard drive, dual-band Wi-Fi, and a mobile broadband option—we assume that Lenovo will go with more or less the same specs for the [$429] Chromebook version.

That's almost a $200 savings. Obviously a Windows license accounts for some of the difference, but there must be hardware cuts as well. Otherwise, buy one of these plus a copy of Windows and you'll come out ahead.

If the C7 is any indication, these will come with a special locked-down BIOS that will prevent booting of alternate OSes. We're trying to get a review unit in from Lenovo and will check on that, though. :-)

My only question is do you really get 6.5 hours from the Intel chip like you do the ARM?

The battery in this laptop is almost certainly bigger than the 30WHr battery included in the ARM version, though a quick sweep of the spec sheet reveals no mAh or WHr rating for the Windows version of the X131e.

This looks "Nice", but once you cross the $300 barrier there are plenty of choices to look at. Newegg (for example) offers over 25 different new notebooks under $400 (over 120 if you count their refurbs.).

If the C7 is any indication, these will come with a special locked-down BIOS that will prevent booting of alternate OSes. We're trying to get a review unit in from Lenovo and will check on that, though. :-)

On every ChromeBook i've seen, Google has lived up to their promise to force the manufacturer to include a way to flip it into "developer" mode, where a different OS can be installed.

If the C7 is any indication, these will come with a special locked-down BIOS that will prevent booting of alternate OSes. We're trying to get a review unit in from Lenovo and will check on that, though. :-)

On every ChromeBook i've seen, Google has lived up to their promise to force the manufacturer to include a way to flip it into "developer" mode, where a different OS can be installed.

My impression is that the latest models use a key combo during boot rather than a physical switch to get into developer mode.

Ah, here is the info on the developer mode for the various chromebooks: